(A/N: I'll bet none of you expected Luigi to jump in and object like he did... and not get into trouble for doing so. Well, you'll find out just why the shy, younger plumber did so in this chapter. Okay, don't riot; I'll get it started for you right away!)
By then, the boat reached the hotel, and the group quickly disembarked, entered the hotel, and got checked in. Mario and Luigi were sharing a room, and so were Peach and Daisy. Toadsworth had to room with the other Toads (at Peach's suggestion). They all were handed the keys to their rooms, and they went upstairs, where the rooms were. Luckily, their rooms were all close to each other.
Once they were inside their room, Mario set his suitcase on one of the beds, turned to Luigi, and said, "All right, Luigi. I'd like you to give me a good answer to the question I'm about to ask: why did you do that?"
"Do what?" Luigi asked as he set his suitcase on the floor.
"Don't give me that. You know what I'm talking about. During the trial, when the prosecutor called me the guilty party, you told the court that you might be the one responsible for the crime." Mario reminded him.
"Oh yeah. That." Luigi said. Truthfully, he knew that Mario was going to bring this up sooner or later, but he didn't think it would be this soon.
"Yes. That. Now tell me, Luigi, why did you put yourself in danger like that? You've always been the more cautious one of us, making sure to look before you leap." Mario said.
"Well, there's a good reason why I did it today." Luigi said.
"Sto ascoltando. I'm listening." Mario replied, sitting on the bed.
Luigi sat down next to his brother and said to him, "Mario, it didn't take uno scienziato missilistico, a rocket scientist to figure out what the Piantas were going to do. They wanted to believe you were guilty of the crime in the worst way. The judge would have declared you guilty, and I couldn't hold my tongue."
"I kind of figured they believed I was guilty due to the lack of a jury. And Toadsworth also pointed out that no one there was thinking of asking me any really important questions, like where I was yesterday or something like that. If they had, you, Peach, Daisy, Toadsworth, and the Toads could have confirmed that I was telling the truth. I think they were afraid of being proven wrong, for it would make them look and sound like a bunch of lying idiotas, an unbearable thought." Mario said.
"That's right. And after you had to spend a miserable night trapped in a painting, I knew that you do not deserve to spend this vacation behind bars. That's just as bad, if not worse, than being trapped in a painting! The ghosts who trapped you knew who you were! These guys don't even know you from Clark Kent, but they believe that you're nothing more than un criminale comune, a common criminal! No, I wasn't going to allow that to happen to you!" Luigi said.
"Luigi, you wouldn't last one minute behind bars! I can assure you of that fact!" Mario said. He knew how sensitive Luigi was. It would take seconds for him to crack, and when he did, he'd probably try to kill himself. Or would he? Luigi was pretty fearful, so maybe he'd just live with it for the rest of his life.
"I... I don't care. I would gladly serve the sentence if it meant proving that you were the innocent one here. So I used our being twins to my advantage." Luigi said.
"But... why would you do that?" Mario asked.
"Because after all the nice things you did for me when we were growing up, I think it's-a high time I started to return the favor and do a lot of nice things for you from now on." Luigi said.
"But I thought..." Mario started.
"The good things you've done outnumber the bad times, and saving you from being trapped in a painting and allowing you to live in my mansion with me isn't enough to fully repay you for helping me out as much as you did. You're my big bro, and I love you." Luigi replied.
Mario felt pretty emotional when he heard that. He hugged Luigi tightly and whispered, "You really are il miglior fratellino, the best little brother a guy could ask for. And I love you, too."
Luigi choked up and hugged Mario back, glad that he was his brother, and he felt so happy that he once again saved him from a fate he didn't deserve. (A/N: Dang! I'm starting to get a little emotional myself! just writing this!)
All of a sudden, they heard a knock at the door to their room. Who could that be?
"Wh-who is it?" Mario asked, sounding a little afraid as he and Luigi tightened their hold on one another. They didn't want it to be anyone who was at the trial with bad news.
"Mario, sweetie, it's me, Peach." a sweet, feminine voice on the other side of the door replied.
Mario slowly let go of Luigi, and Luigi reluctantly let go of him. Then Mario cautiously approached the door and slowly opened it. He smiled slightly let out an inaudible sigh of relief when he saw that it really was his lovely blonde-haired girlfriend standing there.
"Daisy and I are in the lobby with Toadsworth and the Toads. Now that we've checked in, we need to discuss where we should look for the criminal. That's our first order of business." Peach said.
"Okie-dokie. Come on, Luigi. Let's-a head down to the lobby." Mario said to his brother.
"All right." said Luigi, getting off the bed and following his brother and the princess downstairs, to see Daisy talking with the Toads.
"I say we head back to Delfino Plaza and start looking for the criminal over there." Daisy said.
"Sounds like a good idea!" said Mario.
"It is a capital idea, Princess! We have until tomorrow afternoon to find that villain if we wish to prove that Master Mario and Master Luigi are innocent. If he wasn't on the airstrip, then he may be running around in the plaza." Toadsworth said.
"Okay, let's go back to the plaza and have a look around there! If we're lucky, maybe someone saw him, and perhaps the truth is already out!" Peach said.
So they boarded the boat and made their way to Delfino Plaza, ready to search for the villain. Mario and Luigi made sure to arm themselves with F.L.U.D.D. and the Poltergust 3000, just in case.
"We'll split up and look around. We can cover a lot more ground and find him quickly if we do that." Peach said.
"In gruppi di due. In groups of two. What if that bad guy sees you, realizes you're a princess, and tries to grab you, Peach? I think it might be wise for us to use the buddy system." Luigi said.
"I'm with Luigi on this one. You know how bad guys take an immediate liking to princesses when they're all alone and unsuspecting." Mario reminded.
"Even when kidnapping them wasn't part of their original plan." Daisy added. She knew for a fact that Tatanga never would have captured her if Wario hadn't been so jealous of the fact that Peach built a castle for Mario and Luigi to live in.
"Good idea, Luigi." Peach said, giving the younger plumber a smile. Then they figured out what the teams were going to be. Each of the Toads would partner up with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Toadsworth.
But as soon as the group stepped off of the boat, ready to start searching, every Pianta in the area spotted them and quickly started giving Mario and Luigi the stink-eye. That was an unsettling sight, and pretty hard to ignore.
The Toads didn't like the look of this. They immediately started yelling at the Piantas to ignore their friends and resume business as usual, but they didn't listen. The Piantas didn't feel like listening to the Toads because they were just puny little shrimps, while the Piantas were big and strong... and mean.
The sight of this hatred upset the brothers so much that they couldn't even start to look for the bad guy. Not like this. So the group had no choice but to get back on the boat and return to the hotel as fast as they could. But this didn't stop Daisy from inconspicuously flipping off the Piantas before they got back on the boat. She felt that they deserved that much for upsetting her boyfriend. (A/N: Meaning that nobody saw her do it.)
Mario and Luigi were on the verge of tears by the time the boat returned to the hotel. Peach and Daisy felt bad for the boys, and the thought of leaving them to cry in their own hotel room wasn't a good idea.
"I think we should take them to our room." Peach said to Daisy.
"I was just going to suggest that, Peach. It might help them feel better if they spend time with the girls who love and care about them." Daisy replied.
The Toads heard this and offered to take F.L.U.D.D. into their room, so Mario took it off and gave it to the Toads to look after. With that taken care of, the girls led the Mario Bros. into their room, making sure to hang the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. Once their privacy was ensured, Mario and Luigi finally lost it. They both burst out crying on one of the beds, feeling that going on this vacation was an awful idea.
Boy, did Peach and Daisy feel bad when they heard Mario and Luigi let go like they did. The princesses went right to work, hugging and kissing their boyfriends, loving them up. They really wanted to help Mario and Luigi feel better. Their love helped a little, but not much, for Mario and Luigi knew that the Piantas wanted them to be declared guilty, and the thought stung... badly.
When it was time for supper, Peach had an idea. She asked Mario if he and Luigi were up for a romantic double-date with her and Daisy under starry skies. It might help make things a little happier for them all.
"Oh, Princess, as much as Luigi and I would love the idea of doing a double-date with you and Daisy for dinner, we think that maybe we'd better not risk it." Mario said sadly.
"Why not?" Peach asked, looking a little sad. She had been looking forward to something like this ever since she read about it online.
"Siamo ancora criminali. We are still criminals, remember? I'm so afraid that the sight of royal girls like you and Daisy dating a couple of criminals like us would not sit very well with the other diners. It might reach all those stupido scandal magazines before we can prove our innocence, so all the people end up reading nothing but a pack of lies." Luigi said, hanging his head.
"And surely you remember what happened a few hours ago when we returned to Delfino Plaza to try and search for the real villain?" Mario reminded the girls.
"Aw, man!" Daisy moaned, not happy that the people on this island were so cruel. The people in the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland were at least 50 times smarter and friendlier than the people on this island.
Peach thought about it, and she realized that Mario and Luigi were absolutely right. After seeing how everything went wrong earlier today, she really didn't want any more trouble to befall the Mario Bros. She would have to come up with a different plan for supper, thanks to the little jerk that was ruining their vacation before it even stood a chance at being fun and relaxing.
"Okay... Tell you what: I'll order room service for all of us, and we'll eat our supper right here. Does that sound good enough?" Peach suggested.
"I'm game." Mario said, smiling a little. He couldn't say no to the opportunity to dine with Peach.
"Anche io. Me too." said Luigi. He hadn't wanted to say no to a romantic dinner under the stars with Daisy, but at least he'd still get to eat with her, and that's what he wanted.
"All right!" Daisy said, feeling better. She was glad that they were still able to dine together, even though they couldn't do so under the stars, which would've been a great couple thing for her and Luigi to do.
So Peach picked up the phone and ordered room service for supper, and Daisy made sure to put the "Do Not Disturb" sign away. Minutes later, Peach, Mario, Luigi, and Daisy were sitting at the table in the room, having their supper. They also began discussing what they hoped to see as soon as they found out who the real bad guy was.
"I hope they're going to put him to work once they find out who he really is." Mario said.
"Me too. And I have a feeling I know who he really is." Luigi added.
"So do I." said Peach.
"If you guys are thinking it's that shadowy-looking Mario we saw in the promotional video for this place, then I have to agree with you. He's a prime suspect in my book." Daisy said.
"What shadowy Mario?" Mario asked.
Peach finally told him about it. She said, "The sketch that was supposed to be you looked more like him, even though I didn't get a really good look at his face. He was too far away for me to see clearly. But he was shaped like you."
"Why didn't you tell me about this guy when you first saw him?" Mario asked.
"Peach tried to ask if you saw him when we were on the plane. But you quickly made it clear you hadn't seen him. You were distracted by the sight of the seafood in the video." Luigi reminded him.
"Ohhh... Mi dispiace. I'm sorry, but can you blame me? That stuff looked really delicious, and I couldn't wait to eat it." Mario said. Their supper consisted of some of the succulent seafood he saw in the promotional video, but worry took away much of his appetite.
"And we're pretty sure we saw that guy when we were standing out on the airstrip, learning why the plane stopped so abruptly." Daisy said.
"But while you and Toadsworth were talking about the graffiti problem, I tried to get your attention so you might be able to see him, but when I looked back at where he'd been standing, he was gone." Peach said.
"Maybe he was un miraggio, a mirage?" Mario guessed.
"I don't know, Mario. If the three of us saw him, then we can't say he really was one." Luigi said.
"Mama-mia..." Mario sighed.
"Well, don't you worry, Mario. He's bound to appear before the trial resumes tomorrow afternoon, and we'll be ready for him if and when he decides to show his ugly face." Daisy said, trying to help reassure the worried plumber.
"Spero che lo faccia. I hope he does. I want him to be sorry that he tried to make me look bad." Mario said.
"I have a good feeling that he's going to show himself to us before the trial resumes. If there's one thing I've come to notice about villains, it's that they seem to have a knack for showing up wherever princesses happen to be." Peach said.
"Unfortunately, they're really good at that." Luigi said, remembering the time they went to Dinosaur Land, and Peach had vanished.
"I won't let this one be good at that trick! If he thinks he can mess up the island, frame Mario, AND try to kidnap me and Peach, he's going to fail! I can promise you that right now!" Daisy said. After Tatanga managed to capture her with no problems, the flower princess took self-defense lessons and watched "Power Rangers" shows. The combination had served her well when she first laid eyes on Bowser.
"Ti credo. I believe you, Daisy. We've all seen how tough you are against villains, and we're very proud of you." Luigi smiled at his girlfriend.
"Thanks, sweetie." Daisy said, leaning over and giving him a kiss on the cheek, which made him blush heavily.
"I just hope that Luigi and I won't have to spend this whole vacation cleaning up a huge mess we didn't make, and that perhaps the islanders will apologize and treat us with more respect as soon as the real truth comes out." Mario said.
"You and Luigi will be treated with plenty of respect once the truth is revealed. I'm also pretty sure that the villain will be cleaning up the gigantic mess he made while you boys get the apologies you deserve to hear." Peach said.
"I honestly don't know what I would do if you weren't my girlfriend, Peach. You always know exactly what to say to help me feel better whenever I'm worried about something." Mario whispered as he hugged Peach tightly. He loved the princess more than anything.
"I often wonder the same thing, Mario. You'll always be the only man for this princess." Peach replied, rubbing his back in a comforting way as they held each other close.
"I was so worried that they were going to declare Mario guilty and throw him in prison. But since we're twins and kind of look alike, that was why I told them I might be the one who did it." Luigi said.
"I still can't thank you enough for trying to spare me the misery of spending this vacation rotting in a prison cell." Mario said, his eyes beginning to mist as he thought about it.
"Everything you've done for me in the past is proof that you care about me. I know that I have to do more to show you that I care about you just as much as you do me." Luigi said.
Mario let go of Peach, stood up, walked over to where Luigi was sitting, and hugged him. Luigi hugged him back, and the princesses couldn't help smiling at the bond the brothers shared. It was sweet to see that they really did care about each other. But they were twins. They'd always been together, like two halves of a whole.
After they finished supper, the friends still continued to talk. It felt like only minutes had passed when Peach caught sight of the digital alarm clock on the nightstand, and to her surprise, she saw that it was 9:00. She looked outside, and the skies were dark. It was nighttime.
"Oh my goodness! It's already 9:00 p.m.!" Peach said.
"Mama-mia! Is it really that late?!" Luigi asked, looking at his watch to discover the same thing.
"Looks like we'd better wrap up our discussion and pick it up in the morning." Mario said.
"Okay, to be continued..." Daisy said.
"Can I have a kiss before we go to bed?" Mario asked Peach.
"Oh, Mario! I was just going to ask you for one myself!" Peach giggled.
"And I was planning to kiss Luigi whether or not he asked for one." Daisy smiled.
So Mario and Peach gave each other a good-night kiss on the lips, and Luigi and Daisy did the same. And the girls made sure that they gave their men a lingering kiss, to help them have sweet dreams tonight.
"Good night, boys." Daisy smiled.
"Buona notte, Daisy. Good night." Luigi said.
"Ti amo, Peach. I love you." Mario said.
"I love you, too, Mario." Peach replied.
Then the Mario Bros. went back to their room to get ready for bed, and Peach and Daisy quickly got themselves ready for bed. Peach changed in the bathroom, but Daisy changed right there in the room.
"Answer me straight, Peach. Are you really sure you didn't have thoughts of sharing this room with Mario during our vacation?" Daisy asked her cousin when they were ready for bed and had gotten under the covers of the beds in their room.
(A/N: I know the rooms had one bed in the game, but this is my fanfic, so they got rooms with two beds, which is usually the norm at most hotels.)
"Oh, I had thoughts about it, Daisy, but I couldn't. I knew that Toadsworth would throw a complete fit if I told him that's what I wanted to do. He knows that the two of us are mature adults who would never think of doing anything... sexual before we're married, but he won't really give us the chance to prove it to him." Peach said.
"But he didn't object to the idea of me rooming with you?" Daisy asked.
"Of course. He knows that as well as my cousin, you're my bestest friend. Plus, he has seen us take naps together on my bed during your visits when we were smaller. I also think he felt it would be right if the two of us shared a room." Peach replied.
"Well, I guess that makes good sense when you think about it. And he probably figured that Mario and Luigi would be a lot happier if they were rooming together, the way they do whenever they stay at your castle." Daisy said. Then she sighed and added, "Well, let's get to sleep. We've got to be awake and alert when we go looking for that villain while Mario and Luigi take care of the mess."
"All right. Good night, Daisy." said Peach as she turned off the lamp and settled under the covers.
"Good night, Peach." said Daisy as she shut her eyes, ready to sleep so she could get up bright and early. Princesses were early risers, after all.
Sometime after midnight, in the room the Mario Bros. shared, poor Mario was tossing and turning in his sleep, having an awful nightmare.
"No... I didn't do it... I would never do that! Why won't you believe me?!" Mario was saying in his sleep.
Luigi had gotten up to use the bathroom, and he was just about to get back into bed when he heard his brother yelling.
"Mario?" Luigi quietly asked in a worried voice.
"I'm not the one you want! Per favore! Please! I'm innocent! Doesn't anybody believe me?!" Mario was pleading, sounding very upset.
"Mama-mia! He's having a nightmare about the trial!" Luigi said to himself.
"No! Don't do this! Please do-!" Mario begged, but then he fell out of bed and landed on the floor with a cry of, "Whoa!"
"MARIO!" Luigi screamed, grabbing his flashlight off the nightstand and rushing to his brother's side.
Mario was awake by then, and he sat up, trying to see where he was, but the room was very dark. He didn't know where he was.
"Dove sono? Where am I?!" Mario asked in a scared voice.
"Mario!" Luigi said, kneeling beside him.
"Luigi, is that you?" Mario asked.
Luigi turned on the flashlight so he and Mario could see each other, and gently said, "Yes, Mario. It's-a me. Cosa c'è che non va? What's wrong?"
"Where... wh-where are we?" Mario asked. He sounded almost afraid to ask the question.
"We're on Isle Delfino." Luigi answered.
"I-I know th-that... But... where on... Isle D-D-Delfino? Please d-don't... say we're in p-p-prison..." Mario answered, his voice sounding like it was near tears. It really hurt Luigi to hear his brother so frightened and upset, like he was after the mansion incident.
"Non preoccuparti. Don't worry, Mario. We're not in prison. We're at Hotel Delfino." Luigi said.
"We... we are?" Mario asked.
"Sì. If we were in prison, we wouldn't be wearing our pajamas right now." Luigi told him.
Thanks to the flashlight, Mario was able to see that he and Luigi were dressed in their pajamas, which consisted of short-sleeved shirts and sleep pants in their favorite colors. The shirts matched their caps, and the pants also had Power Stars all over them.
"You're right. We wouldn't be in our pajamas." Mario said, feeling a little calmer now.
"We're okay." Luigi assured him.
"That's good..." Mario said.
"You're not really okay, are you?" Luigi asked.
"NO, I'M NOT!" Mario screamed, latching onto his brother and completely losing it.
"Mario! What happened?" Luigi asked, dropping his flashlight and quickly wrapping his arms around his crying brother in a comforting hug.
"I... I-I had a nightmare... about that s-stupido trial! And they... they j-judged me... guilty!" Mario began to explain, looking up at Luigi with tears coursing down his cheeks.
Luigi felt awful, seeing his brother upset like this. Mario didn't deserve to be treated like a criminal. It was bad enough when those stupid ghosts trapped him in a painting in that trap of a mansion! Luigi never wanted to see his brother that upset again, but now he was, and he knew that he hated to see Mario so upset.
"They were gonna... th-throw me in prison... And I went flying into a c-cell. But that's wh-when I... I w-woke up on the floor..." Mario said.
"Don't cry, bro. We're not going to let them throw you in prison. Not if we have anything to say about this. We'll get you out of this mess before you can say, 'Bowser sucks'!" Luigi assured Mario as he rubbed his back in a comforting way.
Mario couldn't help chuckling a little when Luigi said those last two words, but then he remembered something and said, "Mi dispiace... I'm... I-I'm sorry for w-waking you up, L-Luigi..."
"You didn't wake me up. I was already awake. I was just coming back from a trip to il bagno, the bathroom when you started talking in your sleep. I got worried about you when I heard you yelling." Luigi explained.
"So, you're not mad at me?" Mario asked, recovering a little.
"No. I worry about you when you feel the way I usually do. And I could never blame you for having a nightmare, like you did after... you-know-what. Everybody has them every now and again." Luigi said as he picked up the flashlight.
"What am I gonna do, Luigi? I can't go back to bed now!" Mario cried.
"Maybe you could sleep with me in my bed." Luigi suggested.
"That'll be okay with you?" Mario asked.
"Mario, we share a bed in the guest room of Peach's Castle, and we have no problems doing that. Now get in my bed and make yourself comfortable." Luigi told him.
"Okie-dokie." Mario said as he climbed into Luigi's bed and crawled under the covers.
"You'll be okay, bro. I'll be lying right next to you so you'll feel safe." Luigi assured Mario as he turned off the flashlight, set the object on the nightstand, and got under the covers himself. He wrapped Mario in a warm hug and whispered to him, "Prova a dormire. Try to sleep. I've got you."
"Buona notte, Luigi. Good night." Mario said as he held onto Luigi.
"Sogni d'oro, Mario. Sweet dreams..." Luigi whispered, keeping Mario close, helping him feel safe.
Both brothers slept well after that. Mario didn't have any more nightmares that night, and Luigi felt good, knowing that he was helping Mario.
I had to add some moments that illustrate Mario and Luigi's brotherly bond in this chapter. We know how close they are, and how much they care about each other. And after what happened to Mario, Luigi wanted to show his loyalty as a brother. Now be sure to stay tuned, 'cause this story is far from finished!